Rev. Timothy J. Ensworth
A public witness (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 10:32-33
June 25, 2017
Bay of St Columba
In the Bay of St Columba on the Isle of Iona,
The stones remember Columba and the monks
Who followed him in trust to work and pray.
With the constant arrival and exit of cold salty waves,
Which daily invade the beach and flee back out to sea,
Smoothed rocks covering the sand sing and chant,
“Where have you gone, dear friend?… Continue reading ...
Making disciples (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 28:16-20
June 11, 2017
What do you know about Moldova?
(To play the video, go to link: https://sermons.believersjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/MoldovaSunday.mp4)
Now what do you know about Moldova?
Moldova is a little over half the size of Iowa, with about the same number of people. It’s capital Chişinau is the size of Des Moines. … Continue reading ...
That they may be one (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 17:1-11
May 28, 2017
Burma, Nicaragua, Liberia, Korea, and now Haiti. Why should we talk about Haiti? Because the people of Haiti need us? Yes. But that is only half of the story. We should talk about the people of Haiti because we need them.
Our group of travelers arrived in Port-au-Prince on a Friday night.… Continue reading ...
Seeing Jesus (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 14:15-21
May 21, 2017
WWJD. What would Jesus do? You’ve probably heard the expression. You may have worn the bracelet. WWJD. What would Jesus do?
It’s a cue, a reminder, to frame the decisions we make and the actions we take in the context of Jesus’ way of thinking and acting. … Continue reading ...
Life in all its fullness (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 10:1-10
May 7, 2017
Jonathan Yarngo has made his home among us. He was born in Liberia, but he has lived for twelve years now in the United States, in Minnesota and in Iowa. Four years ago, Jonathan became a naturalized citizen of this country.
Jonathan Yarngo has made his home among us, the members of the First Congregational United Church of Christ family. … Continue reading ...
Breaking bread with a stranger (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Luke 24:13-35
April 30, 2017
When did they recognize Jesus? When he broke the bread. Before that, they didn’t know who he was. He was a stranger to them.
This is a strange and wonderful account, unique to the gospel of Luke. Two people, identified as followers of Jesus, are walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a village seven miles west.… Continue reading ...
That you may have life (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
John 20:30-31
April 23, 2017
That you may have life …
That through your faith in him, through your faith in Jesus, you may have life. Then or now? Someday or today? After you die or here and now?
The gospel makes no distinction: that you may have life, then and now, someday and today. … Continue reading ...
And reconciling the world to yourself (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 28:16-20
April 16, 2017
Irreconcilable differences. That is grounds for divorce in Iowa, the only grounds for divorce in Iowa. Irreconcilable differences. A relationship grown so divided, so distant, so broken, that it cannot be saved, that the partners cannot be reconciled. Irreconcilable differences. It is now the catch-all term for any number of factors contributing to the degradation of the relationship.… Continue reading ...
and shared our common lot
Matthew 25:31-46
April 2, 2017
Where was Jesus? Eighty-some generations ago, when Jesus lived and worked in Palestine, where would you find him?
You would find him sitting by a well, starting up a conversation with a woman, a Samaritan woman, crossing ethnic and gender boundaries to ask from her a drink of water, and to offer her a drink of living water.… Continue reading ...
you have come to us (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Matthew 21:33-43
March 26, 2017
Great God of Earth and Heaven
(New Century Hymnal, #579)
Great God of earth and heaven whose Spirit is our breath,
at Christmastime born human, at Easter shared our death …
“Great God of earth and heaven.” Creator, sustainer, provider. Holy.
Great God of earth and heaven. … Continue reading ...